Objective:

To describe the feelings about death of students enrolled in the Nursing Degree, who had not initiated their practicum in real care settings.

Methods:

Three-cohort observational study with open question analysis. The Collet-Lester Fear of Death Scale, the Questionnaire on factors to help dying in peace and ad hoc questionnaire with 6 open-ended questions was administered to 197 undergraduate nursing students.

Results:

The students recognized being afraid to face death in the practicum, mainly they fear that it affects them personally, the patient's reaction, contact with death and not knowing what to do.

Conclusions:

The students believed that death was something that was very present in their profession, expressed fear in facing it in the practicum, they mostly recognized not having enough overcoming strategies, and they would like to receive training on how to face death.